Posts Tagged ‘history of M&M’s’

We stumbled upon this retro candy advertisement for M&M's from the 1970's.

Sharability: 8

Denture Danger: 4

Convenience: 7

Novelty: 9

Overall: 9

Mars company manufactures the M&M, which is milk chocolate, covered in a hard candy shell, but you know that. What you might not know is where the idea for M&Ms originated.

During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s Forrest Mars Sr. saw soldiers eating chocolate pellets surrounded by a hard shell as to prevent them from melting. Mars took this genius idea and patented his own version in 1941.

During World War II M&Ms were sold exclusively to the military. In 1954, the slogan that Elizabeth Granberry Hill Mckean wrote was trademarked, fitting well with the original purpose of the candy, “The milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”

In terms of the name of the candy, one M comes from Forrest Mars Sr., the founder of the Mars Company, and one comes from Bruce Murrie, the son of William Murrie, the former Hershey’s president. Murrie had 20% interest in the candy, which made it possible for Mars to make the M&Ms with Hershey’s chocolate, a bit ironic, eh?

Peanut M&Ms have more substance to them and are more fun because you can either munch on them with the chocolate and peanut together or eat them separately. You can melt the chocolate away and then chew down the peanut or you can carefully separate the peanut from the chocolate in your mouth, either way they can keep you occupied if you are watching a boring movie.

M&Ms now come in almost every color you can imagine, but brown, green, yellow, orange, red, and blue are most common.

Some fun facts about M&Ms are that the m on the front of the M&M was printed in black until 1954 and also, M&Ms have been up in space to demonstrate antigravity. Whether you are eating them in space or here on Earth, this classic candy won’t disappoint.